Required qualifications:
1. To have a Master degree at the start of the project (1 Oct 2026) in Earth - or Environmental Science, Climatology or related field (geography, engineering, bioscience engineering, geology, physics, meteorology, oceanography, mathematics, informatics, etc.);
2. To have some experience in computational programming;
3. To have demonstrated verbal and written communication skills in English;
4. To have a collaborative mindset: To enjoy working with others to achieve common objectives.
Extreme rainfall, floods, landslides and heat stress already affect millions across East Africa. Reliable projections that explicitly account for different climate forcings are crucial for understanding our future climate. To obtain such projections, you use the next-generation regional climate model ICON‑CLM to run convection‑permitting simulations (≈2.2 km) over Equatorial East Africa. By transitioning to kilometer-scale modeling, this research overcomes the limitations of coarse-scale simulations that often struggle with East Africa’s complex terrain and lake-breeze dynamics. The project goes beyond existing global warming projections by adding the regional impact of rapid urbanization and associated shifting aerosol levels. In this way, you provide an understanding and assessment of how these interacting factors reshape regional convective systems and high-impact weather A dedicated computer scientist/software engineer works alongside you to set up ICON-CLM on the HPC systems, support simulations and manage large data volumes—so you can focus on the science. Your work generates open datasets and insights that directly benefit African stakeholders and the wider research community.
KU Leuven (Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences), Ghent University, and Delft University of Technology invite applications for a four-year PhD position within the ANVIL consortium (African convective systems in a changing climate). The broader goal of ANVIL is to evolve our understanding and modelling of convective clouds and rainfall over Equatorial East Africa by combining next-generation regional climate models with novel observations. Your role within the project is to understand and asses how climate forcings jointly shape future extreme rainfall, wind gusts and heat stress over the region. You join the Regional Climate Studies Group (Department of Earth- and Environmental sciences), which has strong experience in regional climate modelling, tropical precipitation, urban climate and East African climate. You work in close collaboration with two other PhD candidates (UGent, TU Delft). You collaborate with scientists from the international CLM‑Community, an international network of scientists dedicated to developing and applying the ICON-CLM model for high-resolution regional climate research. You are supervised by Prof. Nicole van Lipzig, Prof. Kwinten Van Weverberg and Prof. Remko Uijlenhoet. You regularly visit Ghent University and Delft University of Technology.
5. A full-time position for a duration of 48 months, starting preferably 1 October 2026, though an earlier or later date is possible.
6. The position is located at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, in Leuven, Belgium.
7. Access to training opportunities such as ICON-CLM courses and international summer schools, along with participation in international conferences and communities like the CLM-Community.
8. Travel support is provided for conferences and collaboration meetings.
9. You will work in a stimulating, inclusive research environment with a focus on collaborative and open research.
10. A contribution to educational activities is expected for about 10% of your time.
11. You are part of the Arenberg Doctoral School (ADS), which supports your growth into a high-level professional through comprehensive training, career development, and networking. http://set.kuleuven.be/phd
12. The remuneration is generous and in line with standard KU Leuven rates, consisting of a net monthly salary of about 2400 Euro. In the case of dependent children or a spouse, the salary amount can be somewhat higher. Social security is included and the salary is automatically adjusted for inflation based on the smoothed health index following Belgian law. Transportation to and from the workplace is covered